The Official Publication of the
Flathead Nation online

Participants sought for Diabetes Prevention Program

ST. IGNATIUS — Diabetes is a serious health problem in Indian Country including the Flathead Nation. It can cause debilitating problems with the heart, eyes, kidneys, feet and gums. It also can cause strokes and it often leads to premature death.

However, diabetes is controllable with proper management based on patient awareness and education, an active lifestyle, a healthy diet, medication and professional medical guidance.

In an effort to stem the escalation of the incidence of diabetes among the tribal people on the Flathead Indian Reservation the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Tribal Health and Human Services Department, and Providence St. Patrick Hospital of Missoula have entered into a joint diabetes education and lifestyle change partnership effort. As a result they are seeking participants to enroll in the Diabetes Prevention Program.

They are recruiting 25 participants, 18 years of age or older who are at risk for diabetes or with pre-diabetes symptoms — high blood pressure; elevated triglycerides; high total cholesterol or high LDL (bad) cholesterol; low HDL (good) cholesterol; a history of gestational diabetes; and, women who have given birth to a baby weighing more than nine pounds — with a body-mass index of 24 or greater.

Applications will be taken throughout June with screening of participants tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, June 25 and classes are set to begin Tuesday, July 2, and each Tuesday after that — from 12-noon to 1 p.m.

Program participants will meet once a week for 16 weeks then once a month for the remaining seven months of the program at the Diabetes Program conference room in the St. Ignatius THHS Clinic.

The DPP staff wants to focus of folks from the Arlee, St. Ignatius and Ronan areas due to logistics. Gas vouchers will be given to participants

The partnership will center on the Atlanta, Ga.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Diabetes Prevention Program, a decades old diabetes education and prevention effort that has proven positive outcomes. It in part is funded by a grant from the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE).

Founded in 1973, AADE is a multi-disciplinary professional membership organization dedicated to improving diabetes care through education. With more than 13,000 professional members including nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, and others, AADE has a vast network of practitioners involved in the daily treatment of diabetes patients.

To learn more about AADE go to: www.diabeteseducator.org.
• For more information or to enroll for the screening process in the Diabetes Prevention Program, contact Sara Engberg at St. Patrick Hospital Diabetes Care and Prevention Center at 329-5781.

Space is limited so the sooner the contact the better the chances are for a better and longer future.